News Stories

[FateAnomaly]

Even so i think i will let other people try it for maybe 10 yrs first.

[Tom Bombadil]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

this really should be in the new thread.

I agree with Don here. Asian film industry has been doing the same to Western films as well. i remember watching(about 5mins) a (Crappy)remake of Splash and City of Angels set in Hong Kong with Chinese actors.

There is nothing racist about it. Just smart marketing.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/...-affairs_x.htm

The academy award winning title "the departed" is a remake of the HK film "无间道(Infernal Affairs)".

Good work has universal appeal. Nothing wrong with that.

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

BioMeat anyone?

It would be nice if it could really help world hunger. Unfortunately it won't ever.

[ganbaru]

U.S. to try again to hammer out space code
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...80H02E20120118

[TinyRedLeaf]

Dolce & Gabbana says sorry to Hong Kong

Hong Kong (Jan 18, Wed): Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) has finally apologised to Hong Kong.

The Italian luxury brand sparked controversy earlier this month when local citizens, snapping photos of the store from the street, were told to stop, while others from China and other foreign countries weren't.

Local media recorded the store's security staff enforcing the policy, triggering accusations of discrimination against Hong Kongers in favour of the wealthy mainland-Chinese tourists who keep such stores in business.

More than 1,000 protesters outside D&G's store in Kowloon forced it to close early on Jan 8, and the topic simmered online as well, with commenters debating on news articles, blog posts and D&G's Facebook page.

As Chinese New Year — a critical shopping season in Asia — drew near, D&G issued a formal apology.

Hong Kong citizens are not appeased. "We are not idiots," one commenter wrote on D&G's Facebook page. "We fully understand the purpose of your 'apology'. You don't really care about [Hong Kong] people. You just don't want to lose the turnover from the mainland (Chinese) tourists during the Chinese New Year holiday."

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

To fully appreciate the intense fury over such perceived discrimination, it's necessary to recall the apocryphal story about the "No Dogs or Chinese" sign said to have been put up in Huangpu Park in Shanghai during the days of British imperialism, a collective "memory" not lost on the people of Hong Kong. What makes it doubly worse is that the distinction is now made between Chinese, the wealthy mainlanders and Hong Kong residents.

Forget "some animals are more equal than others". This is the very definition of "one country, two systems".

[andyjay729]

http://news.yahoo.com/japan-pop-star...195800602.html

Celebrity marriages never last, they say. But couldn't she visit her friends and family in Japan if she's worried about them (I'd imagine she has enough money for frequent trips to and fro). Also, didn't her husband think he might have to spend time living there when he courted and married her?

[Paranoid Android]

Originally Posted by andyjay729

http://news.yahoo.com/japan-pop-star...195800602.html

Celebrity marriages never last, they say. But couldn't she visit her friends and family in Japan if she's worried about them (I'd imagine she has enough money for frequent trips to and fro). Also, didn't her husband think he might have to spend time living there when he courted and married her?

Those are usually just lazily conjured excuses full of inexplicable holes. But yes, most celebrity marriages don't last. Especially for Ayumi to be sooooooooo famous and then not live in the country her main fan base is.

[Kokukirin]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Dolce & Gabbana says sorry to Hong Kong


To fully appreciate the intense fury over such perceived discrimination, it's necessary to recall the apocryphal story about the "No Dogs or Chinese" sign said to have been put up in Huangpu Park in Shanghai during the days of British imperialism, a collective "memory" not lost on the people of Hong Kong. What makes it doubly worse is that the distinction is now made between Chinese, the wealthy mainlanders and Hong Kong residents.

Forget "some animals are more equal than others". This is the very definition of "one country, two systems".

That's taking it a bit too far. D&G overstepped the line not only because of discrimination, but also that they have no such authority in the first place. It is perfectly legal to film and snap photos of the store from the street. HKers are very sensitive to violation of their rights and freedom, which have been under pressure since HK became part of China. While the trade and investment from China are welcome, the culture and politics are not.

[ganbaru]

Obama administration rejects Keystone oil pipeline
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...80H1I720120118
A great part of strategy on this.

[Ithekro]

I wonder though. Is stopping it entirely in the best interests of the Nation? (shifting positions of the route may be needed, but ending it may not be viable).

I ask mainly because while groups want cleaner energy sources, most are not viable enough for what consumers use. At least not yet. There is not a vaible alternative to gasoline that will allow older cars to run....and Americans like there older cars.

There is a great worry that the oil from other sources will be cut off and thus this project might solve that problem (and make North America that primary source of oil rather than the Middle East). It would be nice to not have a reason to fight over the Middle East and leave it alone. Though that would made it worth fighting over the United States and Canada...but with tax profits coming in, the military should be able to hold off anyone who dared to take it by force.

While there is a clearer and effective way to generate energy, most enviromentalist groups hate it. It is called, Nuclear Fission Power. Most of the other clean methods require something that is not abundant or already in use (hydro requires damming rivers. Wind requires large acreage of land for the turbines, geothermal usually requires hot springs or other magma displacements closer to the surface that normal...unless you are willing to dril into the Mantle. Wave action is not up to standards due to corrosion and Nuclear Fusion is not up to generating more power than you put into it.). Also it again doesn't help move older cars, ships, or airplanes.

[andyjay729]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blog...-abc-news.html

Hopefully this guy's all right. At least his car wasn't found in the Aokigahara Forest...

[MrTerrorist]

Beer 'must be sold' at Brazil World Cup, says Fifa

I think it's a bad idea since diehard football/soccer fans drunk with alcohol is a horrible combination.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Beer 'must be sold' at Brazil World Cup, says Fifa

I think it's a bad idea since diehard football/soccer fans drunk with alcohol is a horrible combination.

With a Brazilian sports culture unable to handle sports and liquor at the same time? That makes sense.

===

And, in other news:

An Indian teacher got the shock of his life when he checked his bank account online and found 490bn rupees ($9.8bn).

Parijat Saha expected his balance to be $200 and could not believe his eyes - but a check at an ATM confirmed his billionaire status, on paper at least.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16607018

And I'd say - kudos to this man for being honest about this situation. Imagine the scores of people... who... oh... I dunno, take advantage of this.

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

I wonder though. Is stopping it entirely in the best interests of the Nation? (shifting positions of the route may be needed, but ending it may not be viable).

I ask mainly because while groups want cleaner energy sources, most are not viable enough for what consumers use. At least not yet. There is not a vaible alternative to gasoline that will allow older cars to run....and Americans like there older cars.

There is a great worry that the oil from other sources will be cut off and thus this project might solve that problem (and make North America that primary source of oil rather than the Middle East). It would be nice to not have a reason to fight over the Middle East and leave it alone. Though that would made it worth fighting over the United States and Canada...but with tax profits coming in, the military should be able to hold off anyone who dared to take it by force.

While there is a clearer and effective way to generate energy, most enviromentalist groups hate it. It is called, Nuclear Fission Power. Most of the other clean methods require something that is not abundant or already in use (hydro requires damming rivers. Wind requires large acreage of land for the turbines, geothermal usually requires hot springs or other magma displacements closer to the surface that normal...unless you are willing to dril into the Mantle. Wave action is not up to standards due to corrosion and Nuclear Fusion is not up to generating more power than you put into it.). Also it again doesn't help move older cars, ships, or airplanes.

From what I've read, this oil pipeline was for exporting oil only. The number of jobs it was going to create was closer to 5-6000, and only temporary. The environmental damages that would be caused by building the pipeline would be immeasurable.

All of that just so oil companies can export our own oil to Canada so they can refine it. I doubt any of the 'savings' from the cheaper refinement would be passed onto the US consumers, and of course, this would be funded by tax payer money.

[ganbaru]

^ Actualy I think than the oil was supposed to be from Canada and going to the US market.

Kodak files for bankruptcy, secures $950 million lifeline
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...80I08G20120119

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

^ Actualy I think than the oil was supposed to be from Canada and going to the US market.

Kodak files for bankruptcy, secures $950 million lifeline
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...80I08G20120119

My mistake. I misread some of the posts I was reading. What I meant to say was that the oil that gets refined would be exported to the world market, and no benefits would trickle down to us, with all profits going to the oil companies. Why are taxpayers paying for this?

Anyways, I found this on another site, and it has some pretty great points against the Keystone Project:

This one is just a political nightmare, no matter who is involved.

1) There is some doubt that the Keystone XL pipeline will ever even be built. Only about 10% of the necessary financing has been committed. The question is, is this a real project or just political theater. The involvement of the Koch brothers is particularly troubling.

2) Instead of a pipeline all the way to refineries in the Gulf, it would actually be much cheaper and more environmentally sound to build a new refinery on the Canadian border in North Dakota. Or better yet, let the Canadians build ine in Canada. Do the math --- it is about the same cost to distribute refinery products through the current system than to pipe it to Texas and then distribute the refinery products through the same system.

3) The pipeline itself was engineered to absolute minimal engineering standards to get costs down. There is no safety margin and no reserve capacity. And the only environmental protection in the case of a spill would be a 5-man group located in Hardesty, Alberta, Canada? That's like BP claiming that its cleanup provision for a spill in the Gulf was a boat and crew located in Alasks (and the boat was even out of service for refurbishment at the time.)

4) This would involve a massive use of eminent domain to condems hundreds of square miles of some of the richest farm land in the country. And instead of over $20,000 an acre, a farmer under the use of e.d. would receive less than $200 an acre. nd that doesn't even include the mandatory leasements across private land to give the oil company access to the pipeline for repairs, etc. I am really against using e.d. to take land from private individuals for a for-profit pipeline to be laid by a for-profit company, a Canadian company at that. I would have thought that a lot more right-wingers would be against this largest use of eminent domain, especially when land is taken from Americans and given to Canadians.

5) And it is still troubling that there is a huge risk from running a massively long pipeline, built on the cheap, across literally thousands of streams, scores of rivers, thousands of square miles of farm land, and over the most significant aquifer in the country. On a risk/benefit matrix, this is a high risk, low return sort of proposition --- this is the worst possible risk arrangement and means that everyone should go very, very slow with this.

6) And this is just a part of the massive oil company scam that keeps gasoline prices (and profits) extremely high. Domestic oil costs an average of around $18 a barrel top produce. Mexican oil costs around $22 a barrel. Canadian oil is around $60 a barrel but headed sharply down. If you add up all the oil from the three countries, they produce more than 120% of what the three countries consume. The US is actually a net exporter of both oil and natural gas. But the scam comes in that companies in the US sell domestic oil to countries like Japan at international prices (and huge profits.) Then then have to import oil from other countries (surprisingly little of it from the Middle East) at international prices to make up for it. Then the higher cost of the replacement oil is passed on to the consumer at the pump. If the US, Canada and Mexico formed a North Americal Oil Cartel and stopped all exports except net amounts above the consumption level, and base gasoline prices on a 25% profit margin, and stopped all speculation in oil and refinery products, gasoline would drop to less than a dollar a gallon at the pump overnight.

I would personally approve of the pipeline if 1) no taxpayer money was involved, 2) the pipeline was built to "best practices" engineering and environmental standards, and especially 3) there is no use of eminent domain on behalf of corporations, especially Canadian corporations.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Beer 'must be sold' at Brazil World Cup, says Fifa

I think it's a bad idea since diehard football/soccer fans drunk with alcohol is a horrible combination.

You don't get easily drunk on beer. Besides, beer or not, soccer fans are always rowdy.

I remember reading on my local news late last year about the first cross straits soccer game since 1996, fans on both sides literally went nuts : in front of their head of states. And there is no beer.

[sneaker]

Before the 2006 World Cup there was also in outrage in Germany about the beer. They were angry about only getting beer from the American sponsors, but no local beer. In the end they were allowed to sell their local stuff, too.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by sneaker

Before the 2006 World Cup there was also in outrage in Germany about the beer. They were angry about only getting beer from the American sponsors, but no local beer. In the end they were allowed to sell their local stuff, too.

I heard about that too. It is sacreligious ; the only beer allowed during a German soccer eventshould be only German beer. And the finals should only be held during Oktoberfest if it is held in Germany.

[DonQuigleone]

How are they going to get Qatar to serve alcohol? Qatar bans the importation and public consumption of all alcohol!